MANAWATU. EVENING STANDARD Circulation, 3,200 Copies Daily. SATURDAY, MARCH 31. 1906. NOrTH AND SOUTH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8153, 31 March 1906, Page 4

MANAWATU. EVENING STANDARD Circulation, 3,200 Copies Daily. SATURDAY, MARCH 31. 1906. NOrTH AND SOUTH.

A. mesibee of Parliament for a southern constituency, Mr G. Witty, lias lately been on an extensive tour of the North Island, During his visit he has made practical acquaintance with many of the matters demanding legislative attention in' the North Island. A southern contemporary, the Christchurch Press, commends Mr Witty's action and suggests that other members Should follow his example. There can be no doubt that such inter-island visits would broaden the horizon of our legislators and help tliem to realise that they are the guardians of the welfare, not of one town or district, but of the whole colony. They would find much to interest and instruct them and would acquire information that would be of great value in solving the problems which will have to be dealt with by Parliament. First and foremost is the native land question. While the Government force European landowners to part with their estates for closer settlement, even although those estates are already being improved and turned to productive purposes, the natives are allowed to remain in undisturbed possession of millions of acres of land which is. being turned to no use whatever, but which on the other hand is a breeding ground for noxious weeds of every description, and is thus steadily going from bad to worse. Ulearly one of the first steps of the Government should be, while dealing out strict justice to the natives, to ensure that this land is made available for closer settlement. The North Island Main Trunk railway affords mauv interesting points for consideration.". The visitors see how necessary it is that it should be completed, and how it has been dawdled over in the past. It is almost impossible to condemn too strongly the policy of planting settlers in the depths of the forest without railways within reach, even without pass*

able roads fo give them access to their holdings. The settlers in the process of clearing their land destroy timber which would be worth many thousands, of pounds if the Government had constructed the railway and the roads first, and opened up the settlements afterwards. Meanwhile the unfortunate settlers are made to suiter hardships so mtolcraule that they seem almost incredible to those who know* farming only as it is carried on under the comfortable conditions which prevail in the South. The Press, the journal before quoted, in commenting on the matters we have mentioned, ga y S ; —"When the visitor comes to sum up his impressions there is one admission he will be obliged to make, if he is an impartial observer, although it may not be altogether a pleasant reflection to a Southerner strongly imbued with the local patriotism which most of us feel. It is that whereas settlement has nearly reached its limits in the South Island, there are still large possibilities in the North, and the time is not far distant when it will outstrip the South, not only in population, but in productive power." Outside conclusions such as this show how important it is that Parliament should approach the problems of the North Island in an intelligent and sympathetic mood. There is no better way for members to obtain the necessary information than by personal excursions through the colony, which weliope to see more frequent than they hdve been in the past.